Easy Pumpkin Pie (No Cracks, Super Creamy!)

Meet the only easy pumpkin pie recipe you need for Thanksgiving. No blind baking, no water bath, no pastry school required—just real pumpkin, warm spices, a secret creamy ingredient and a few pro tips so your pie sets perfectly and slices like a dream.

Why This Recipe Works

This foolproof pumpkin pie has minimal ingredients, so it is easy to whip together, but still has the baked all day and traditional flavors.

• No Cracks- There is nothing worse than coming to get your pie out of the oven and seeing cracks. This is so common in custard pies, but we’ve got a few tricks to prevent this from happening. We’ve tested, and tested, and tested…
• Secret ingredient(s) – Tang and creaminess from sour cream and evaporated milk help reduce a lengthy ingredient list but keep the texture and flavor.
• Traditional – Although easy and using a shortcut with store-bought crusts, this is a traditional pumpkin pie that everyone will love. I am not ashamed to admit that I hate making pie crust! But if you are so inclined, we do have a pie crust tutorial.

What You Need- Ingredients

• Sugar – Pumpkin (whether you baked your own or bought canned real pumpkin) on its own is not sweet at all, so we need regular granulated sugar for the sweet element.
• Pumpkin pie spice – Generally speaking, pumpkin pie spice contains cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice and cloves. Fragrant and delicious, you’ll find nearly every food item, and even some non-food items, all the sudden become pumpkin pie flavored.
• Coarse Kosher salt – Or any other coarse salt. If you use a fine salt, cut volume in half because all salts are not the same.
• Pumpkin puree – Make sure not to use pumpkin pie filling. Filling is already mixed with spices and sugar. You can also make homemade pumpkin puree, which is the one thing I prefer to do from scratch for this recipe. It can be done ahead of time, but makes a world of difference in the flavor.
• Evaporated milk – This helps to give the filling recipe a creamy texture. I prefer using this instead of heavy cream.
• Eggs – When baking, I always prefer to use room temperature eggs. They mix into the batter better and get a better rise.
• Vanilla extract – If you’ve never tried making your own, you should!
• Sour cream – Sour cream amps the creaminess factor and adds a bit of acidity that helps bring out the natural flavors and balance the sugar.
• Deep dish pie crust – A store-bought pie crust is one of my holiday hacks! Saves so much time in the kitchen for other things. Make sure to get a deep dish crust and use a deep dish pie plate. Feel free to use other crust variations too, like a graham cracker crust or shortbread.

Make Creamy Pumpkin Pie

So easy, this is your new go-to make-ahead pumpkin pie.

1. Make pie filling. To start, you will combine the sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt and pumpkin puree in a large bowl. Add evaporated milk, eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Mix until just combined. It will be liquidy.
2. Pour into crust and bake. Pour into pie crust, but be careful not to overfill. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake. After that, reduce the oven temperature and bake again.
3. Cool. Allow the pie to cool in the oven with the door cracked. After it’s completely cooled, cover the pie and refrigerate for at least a couple hours.

How to Serve this Classic Pumpkin Pie

You could serve this pie with anything you’d like, but whipped cream is probably the most standard adornment of a slice of pie. You could also feel free to make it a la mode and add a heaping scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!

Also get fancy with a caramel or nut sauce like gingerbread caramel, apple cider caramel or praline sauce.

Variations

It’s hard to change a recipe up too much when baking, but here are a few ways to make this easy pumpkin pie your own.

• Evaporated milk – If you don’t have evaporated milk, use half and half. Make sure you aren’t using sweetened condensed milk, as that already has sugar and evaporated milk does not.
• Pumpkin puree – If you prefer to make homemade pumpkin puree from a fresh pumpkin, you can certainly use that instead of the canned variety. This recipe is very forgiving, so you can use anything between 1 3/4 – 2 cups of pumpkin puree.
• Pie crust – If you prefer making your own pie dough, be my guest! A traditional butter pie crust will make the perfect pie. You can use a traditional shortbread crust, graham cracker or even gingersnap

How to Prevent Cracks in Pumpkin Pie (or any custard pie):

1. Overcooked. The number one reason you’ll experience a crack in your pie is because it’s overcooked. Heat dries it out, pulls it apart and results in a cracked pie.
   
   Remove your pie right before the center stops jiggling. Overcooking is no joke. The residual heat will continue to cook the center after you’ve started the cooling process… see step #2.
2. Cooling too fast. Custards in particular are finicky and need to cooler slowly. Forget the image of an apple pie in the window.
   
   Instead, leave your pie in the oven, turned off, with the door cracked. The temperature will reduce fairly quick as to not further cook your pie, but not create such a drastic difference as moving it from a hot oven to cold counter.
3. Recipe. This one seems silly, but use a GOOD recipe for pumpkin pie (like this one!). A crappy recipe won’t have the right ratios of eggs and other ingredients to cook or set properly.
4. Oven Temp. Check your oven temperature. While no oven maintains the perfect temperature all the time for the entire bake, you need it to at least be in the vicinity and be consistent. Some bakers will also rotate their pies to avoid cold and hot spots.
5. Oven Positioning. Bake the pie in the lower third of the oven. The bottom is where heat is coming from and also stays the most consistent with temperature. It gives you the best chance of having a perfectly browned bottom with a cooked custard filling.

Help! My Pie Cracked!

You might also be reading this because you’ve already cracked your pie. No worries! Let’s first discuss the magnitude of the issue. Are we talking fine lines or the grand canyon? Here are some ways to improve your cracks.

1. Smooth It Out. If the cracks are small and thin, you can wet a small paint brush or your finger and gently smooth them out. Use a handheld butane lighter to quickly brown those parts so no one knows any work has been done.
2. Cover It Up. This works for deeper and larger cracks. Simply act like you meant to prepare a frosting pumpkin pie, or whatever custard variety of pie you were aiming for.
   
   Blend 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt with 1/2 cup of whipped cream and 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. Right before serving, slather it on, and ta-da, a beautiful, picture perfect pie!

Frequently Asked Questions

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Easy pumpkin pie with real pumpkin, a secret creamy ingredient and zero cracks. No blind baking, no fussy steps- just a silky, classic Thanksgiving pie.

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 50 minutes mins

Cooling Time: 2 hours hrs

Total Time: 3 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Servings: 12

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Equipment

• Rimmed Baking Sheet
• Stand Mixer
• Deep 9-inch Pie Plate
• Pie Crust Saver

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree , real or canned
• 1 1/4 cups evaporated milk
• 2 eggs , lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 9- inch deep dish frozen pie crust
• whipped cream

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425°F. Arrange the racks in the lower third of the oven.
• In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 3/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt and 1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree. Mix until just combined.
• Add the 1 1/4 cups evaporated milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons sour cream. Mixture will be blended, but soupy. This is normal.
• Pour the filling into the 9- inch deep dish frozen pie crust, being careful to not overfill. You might not use all of the pie filling. Discard the rest.
• Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
• Lower oven temperature to 350°F, cook for another 40-50 minutes or until the center no longer jiggles, but before it starts to crack. Cracks will start to appear around the edges next to the crust, when this happens, immediately stop cooking and crack the door.
• Leave the pie in the oven, turn off the heat and crack the door. Cool for 1-2 hours.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.
• Top slice with fresh whipped cream and serve.
• If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was in the comments or star ratings.

Notes

Blend 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt with 1/2 cup of whipped cream and 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. Right before serving, slather it on, and ta-da, a beautiful, picture perfect pie!

Storage: For best flavor and texture, eat it within 3–4 days. Keep it covered in the fridge. If you want to stash leftovers longer, freeze individual slices and thaw them in the fridge before serving.

Freezing: Yes. Freeze whole or sliced pumpkin pie once it’s fully cooled and chilled. Wrap well and freeze for up to 1 month for best quality. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then slice and serve with whipped cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 306 kcal, Carbohydrates: 18 g, Protein: 13 g, Fat: 22 g, Saturated Fat: 11 g, Cholesterol: 36 mg, Sodium: 348 mg, Potassium: 318 mg, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 16 g, Vitamin A: 5631 IU, Vitamin C: 2 mg, Calcium: 121 mg, Iron: 5 mg

Calories: 306

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy pumpkin pie, no crack pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie recipe, pumpkin pie with canned pumpkin, pumpkin pie with real pumpkin, pumpkin pie with sour cream, simple pumpkin pie

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